New poetry project from California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick invites Californians to write about their state.
Inspired by “My California,” California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick’s ode to the Golden State, the California Arts Council (CAC) has announced today the first phase of Our California, an inclusive and participatory arts project that invites all Californians to write a poem about their city, town, or state and explore what they love about it, what they find in it, what they would change about it, or what hopes they hold for it.
“Each of us has a unique experience and relationship with California,” said California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick. “It is a place of bounty of innovation, opportunity, and progress, as well as difficulty and violence, challenges, and areas of need. Poetry can be a bridge to personal and societal change, and it can show us new ways of seeing ourselves and the world around us.”
Our California is a joint project of California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick and the California Arts Council, with support from the California State Library. The project encourages Californians across the state to share their feelings about the place in which they live through the art of poetry. A portal for participants to submit their works will be added to the California Poet Laureate website later this fall. Submissions will be published to the site on a quarterly basis.